Aquaman taps a Get Down actor to suit up as Black Manta

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Well, the rumors were true. Looks like Ocean Master (Patrick Wilson) -- Arthur Curry’s (Jason Momoa) half-brother, Orm Marius -- won't be the only DC Comics supervillain going toe-to-toe with the King of Atlantis when Aquaman swims into movie theaters next year.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Get Down's Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has been tapped to play the role of the villainous Black Manta in the Warner Bros. superhero movie.

The site reports that director James Wan and the studio have been meeting with several actors for the past two weeks before zeroing in on the up-and-coming actor (who was apparently up for the role of Lando Calrissian in the Han Solo spinoff movie before it went to Community's Donald Glover) over the weekend.

Black Manta was created by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy (who also created Ocean Master the year before) and made his first appearance in the pages of Aquaman #35 in September of 1967 as Arthur Curry's archenemy. The character has had various origin stories over the years but he's always been described as a brilliant tactician with a penchant for high-tech suits, a trident and a bloody thirst for vengeance against the King of the Seven Seas.

Written by Will Beal (Gangster Squad) from a story by James Wan and Geoff Johns, Aquaman also stars Amber Heard as Mera and Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko. Cameras are set to roll this coming April in Australia with a look toward a release date of Oct. 5, 2018.